It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Margaret Madden, Pfizer's Corporate Secretary. Ms. Madden, please begin.
Good morning. I am Margaret Madden, Pfizer's Corporate Secretary. Welcome to this year's annual meeting of shareholders. I am joined today by Albert Bourla, Pfizer's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. We also have the Inspectors of Election with us today, John Lano and Kathrin Latey. General Q&A at the End of the meeting. During this meeting, we will provide projected financial and other forward-looking information, including anticipated operating and financial performance, growth potential, and our expectations for our product pipeline, in line product. By such statements. For additional information on these factors, I refer you to Item 1A Risk Factors and forward-looking information and factors that may affect future results.
Our margins and our cost realignment program expected to deliver total net cost savings of approximately $4.5 billion by the End of 2025. We were strategic in deploying capital in 2024, returning $9.5 billion to shareholders via our quarterly dividend, investing nearly $11 billion in internal R&D, and paying down debt by approximately $7.8 billion. Technology. Last year, we added two members to our board, Tim Buckley and Cyrus Taraporevala, who each bring extensive expertise in governance, financial markets, and shareholder value creation. Our team is energized about the year ahead. We intend to build on our progress with these strategic priorities for 2025. First, improve R&D productivity by applying a sharpened focus. Second, expand margins and maximize our operational efficiencies. Fourth, optimize our capital allocation.
We believe these priorities will guide us in acting on our greatest opportunities to make a positive impact for patients, deliver on our financial commitments, and enhance value for our shareholders. We have a strong and capable R&D organization, and we will work to focus each power on vaccines and medicines needed by significant patient populations. We intend to drive improvement in productivity and outcomes by building on our pipeline momentum in oncology and vaccines, and sharpening our focus on inflammation and immunology and internal medicine. We expect 2025 to be a strong year of pipeline catalysts, and we are excited about multiple assets in our portfolio. We anticipate multiple key milestones, including the possibility of at least four regulatory decisions, up to nine potential phase III readouts, and a significant series of potential pivotal program starts in 2025.
We have several promising new technologies in oncology that represent potentially groundbreaking approaches to fighting cancer. We intend to advance our leadership in protecting against pneumococcal diseases and other often devastating bacterial infections. We are working to develop a potential new treatment for patients with cancer cachexia who lack approved therapies for this life-threatening wasting condition. Last year, we had strong U.S. and international commercial performance, and I believe our teams will continue to execute. We are doing more to leverage the full power of the Pfizer brand as we concentrate our resources on the regions and products with significant potential. With products such as Padcev or Lorbrena, we are building on our leadership with meaningful therapies for people with cancer. Our portfolio of vaccines, including Prevnar, Comirnaty, and Abrysvo, provides protections for millions around the world.
We continue to see strong demand for Nurtec, for those living with migraine. Our Vyndaqel family of products is helping us meet significant unmet medical needs for patients with a heart condition of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy. We will continue to focus on commercial excellence in key categories such as oncology, cardiovascular, migraine, vaccines, and inflammation and immunology. We will also continue to demonstrate financial discipline, working to remove complexity from our business while maximizing operational efficiency towards our goal of further expanding margins. With our capital allocation strategy, we have a commitment to maintain and grow our dividend while also prioritizing continued debt reduction and reinvesting in our future. We believe this is the right balance to grow shareholder value over time. With the use of technology, we can accelerate the development of new medicines and get them to patients as quickly as possible.
We are a biopharma leader in acting on new opportunities coming from advances in science and powerful technologies such as AI. Guided by the leadership of Lidia Fonseca, our Chief Digital and Technology Officer, digital and AI are powering every aspect of our business. We are harnessing these technologies to drive extraordinary advances in how we discover, develop, manufacture, and distribute impactful new medicines and vaccines. We have already achieved more than $700 million in annual operating savings and overall impact with AI initiatives across our company, and we believe we are on track towards our goal of $2 billion of impact by year 2026. 2024 was a strong year of performance for Pfizer, and I'm confident that we are well positioned for the future. We are proud of how others are recognizing our progress and positive impact.
Several highlights include being listed for three consecutive years among the top 10 companies on Fortune World's Most Admired Companies, All Stars, being named recently on Fast Company's annual Most Innovative Companies list, including a number eight ranking in the Medicines, Therapeutics, and Pharmaceutical category, and a number four ranking in the 2024 Access to Medicine Index for our efforts to expand access to our products in low and middle-income countries. We are excited about the year ahead. With the work we have done to strengthen our company and sharpen our focus, we are looking forward to substantial opportunities for advancing our R&D pipeline, delivering vaccines and medicines to people who need them, and maximizing our margins and financial performance. We believe we are well positioned to create sustained long-term value for shareholders and positive impact for people around the world. In closing, I want to say thank you.
Thank you to our shareholders for your engagement and support of our company. Thank you to our Board of Directors. Your guidance, strategic vision, and steadfast support have been instrumental in driving our company's continued success. Thank you to my Pfizer colleagues. It is their dedication to our purpose and their commitment to delivering for patients that allows us to earn and maintain trust as we continue working to strengthen our company and shape a brighter future. Let's now proceed with the business portion of the meeting. We want to maintain an informative, productive, and orderly business meeting marked by fairness to all shareholders. Therefore, we will follow the order of business, which is available on the virtual meeting platform. We will get right to the first item of business, a declaration of quorum.
Notice of this meeting has been given to all shareholders of record as of February 26, 2025. Shares representing at least 79.6% of the votes entitled to be cast at this meeting are present here today. This percentage represents a quorum. We now move to the next order of business items requiring your vote. We have five voting items in all, three that we address at every annual meeting and two proposals from shareholders. To ensure fairness for all shareholders, it is important that you follow the rules of conduct and meeting procedures, which are available on the virtual meeting platform. Only shareholders who have entered the virtual meeting platform using their control number will be able to ask questions about each proposal and during the Q&A period. Information on how to participate can be found by clicking on the Q&A tab.
In a moment, I will officially open the polls. Please note that if you have entered this meeting using a control number, you can still vote on the proxy voting items unless you are a participant in a Pfizer savings plan, as the voting submission deadline has now passed. If you have not yet voted but you would like to do so, or if you have already voted but would like to change your vote, please use the virtual meeting platform to vote yourself. I declare the polls open as of 9:20 A.M. EDT on April 24, 2025. The polls will close today following the presentation of the items of business. Now let's turn to the first voting item, the election of directors. This year, the board has nominated 13 individuals to serve one-year terms, all ending at our next annual meeting of shareholders.
The director nominees are all current directors standing for reelection. You will find their extensive backgrounds in our proxy statement. In addition to me, the director nominees on item one are, and please stand as I call your name and remain standing until I introduce all nominees: Ronald Blaylock, Mortimer Buckley, Susan Desmond-Hellmann, Joseph Echevarria, Scott Gottlieb, Susan Hockfield, Dan Littman, Santanu Narayan, Suzanne Nora Johnson, James Quincy, James Smith, and Cyrus Taraporevala. Dear shareholders, your board, the future board of directors, you can sit. Now let's move to the next item. Item two is to ratify the selection of KPMG LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2025. Two representatives from KPMG are participating by audio connection with us today, Michael Gaynor and Richard DeLorenzo.
The audit committee of the board of directors has done a thorough job of reviewing the performance of KPMG in 2024 and has selected KPMG as Pfizer's independent registered accounting firm for the year 2025. The board has ratified this selection and recommends that you vote for this proposal. Thank you. We now move to our next item. Item three is a management proposal asking our shareholders to cast an advisory vote to approve the compensation of our company's named executive officers identified in the summary compensation table in the executive compensation section of the 2025 proxy statement. While this advisory vote is non-binding, the compensation committee and the entire board of directors will review the results of the vote.
Consistent with Pfizer's record of responsiveness, we will consider the feedback of shareholders and take that feedback into account in all our future decisions relating to our executive compensation program. Accordingly, for the reasons set forth in the proxy statement, the board recommends a vote for the resolution to approve on an advisory basis the compensation of the company's named executive officer, as stated in the proxy statement. Thank you. We now move to our next item. The next item is a shareholder proposal submitted by Mr. John Tsvenden of Redondo Beach, California, requesting a shareholder vote on golden parachutes. The full text of the proposal is set forth in the proxy statement. Mr. Glenn Bitting will be representing Mr. Tsvenden. Mr. Bitting, you have three minutes to move the proposal forward, please.
Can you hear me?
Very well, Mr. Bitting.
Your line is now open.
We hear you very well, Mr. Bitting. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Proposal four, shareholder vote regarding Lavish Golden Parachutes. Shareholders request that the board seek shareholder approval of any senior manager's new or renewed pay package that provides for severance or termination payments with an estimated value exceeding 2.99 times the sum of the executive's base salary plus target short-term bonus. This proposal only applies to the named executive officers. This provision shall at least be included in the corporate governance principles of the company. The board shall retain the option to seek shareholder approval after material terms are agreed upon. Unfortunately, some companies only apply the 2.99 limit to cash Golden Parachutes, which means that there is no limit to lavish non-cash Golden Parachutes for which shareholders have no voting power. This proposal is relevant even if there are current Golden Parachute limits. A limit on Golden Parachutes is like a speed limit.
A speed limit by itself does not guarantee that the speed limit will never be exceeded. Like this proposal, the rules associated with the speed limit provide consequences if the limit is exceeded. With this proposal, the consequences are a non-binding shareholder vote is required for unreasonably rich Golden Parachutes. This proposal places no limit on long-term equity pay or any other type pay. This proposal thus has no impact on the ability to attract executive talent and does not discourage the use of long-term equity pay because it places no limit on Golden Parachutes. It simply requires that lavish Golden Parachutes be subject to a non-binding shareholder vote at a shareholder meeting already scheduled for other matters. This proposal is relevant because the annual say on executive pay vote does not have a separate section for approving or rejecting Golden Parachutes.
This proposal topic received between 51% and 65% support at FedEx, Spirit AeroSystems, Alaska Air, and Pfizer. Please vote yes, shareholder vote regarding lavish golden parachutes proposal four. Thank you.
Mr. Bitting, thank you very much for moving the proposal and, of course, also for staying on time. The proposal has been moved now. Thank you. The board of directors opposes this proposal for the reasons set forth in the proxy statement. Thank you. We will now move to item five, the next at last voting item. The next shareholder proposal was submitted by Kelly Aamel, who is represented today by Rick Figueroa. The proposal requests that the board of directors issue a report evaluating the risks related to religious discrimination against employees. The full text of the proposal is set forth in the proxy statement. Rick Figueroa is presenting via a prerecorded audio. Can we please play Mr. Figueroa's recording?
My name is Rick Figueroa, and I'm here representing the proponent of proposal number five. I'm here to ask for your vote on that proposal, asking Pfizer to commit to treating its religious employees equally. Companies from AmEx to Apple allow religious employees to form employee resource groups. Why? Because employees of faith are entitled to the same respect that other employees enjoy. They should be able to bring their whole selves to the company they work for. Pfizer is no exception. Pfizer says it champions a culture where everyone has something to offer. That's a great goal. If everyone truly belongs, then religious beliefs should be part of that vision too. Pfizer has colleague resource groups for employees based on gender, race, and military service, but no faith.
We asked the company about this, and we're told that Pfizer employees have asked about forming faith-based groups, and the company turned them down. The rationale? Faith-based groups could be divisive. The hostility and pushback we experienced from Pfizer reps when we raised these concerns did not help. So a group of employees based on their race or gender is not divisive, but a group of employees based on shared religious belief is a problem? That is not how equality works. If everyone has something to offer, religious employees should not be excluded from that because they are religious. Pfizer needs to ensure that its policies are not biased against employees of faith, and allowing faith-based college resource groups is a great place to start. In the name of employee freedom and Pfizer's respect of diverse beliefs, please vote for proposal number five.
I want to thank Mr. Figueroa for moving this proposal. The proposal has been moved. The board of directors opposes this proposal for the reasons set forth in the proxy statement. Thank you. Now we have concluded the presentation for the items of business. We now move to the next order of business item, final voting and closing the polls. If you would like to vote or change your vote, please submit your vote on the virtual meeting platform at this time. Thank you. I now declare the polls officially closed as of 9:30 A.M. EDT on April 24, 2025. We now move to the next item on the order of business, the preliminary results of the voting. I will now ask Margaret Madden to provide the inspector's preliminary report on the voting. Margaret.
The inspector's report is preliminary and is subject to the inspector's final tabulation, which should not significantly change the preliminary results. The final voting results will appear in a Form 8K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within four days of this annual meeting. The inspector's preliminary report shows that shares representing 79.6% of the votes entitled to be cast at this meeting were represented in person or by proxy, constituting a quorum. Item one, the inspector's preliminary report further shows that each of the 13 nominees for election as director named in proposal one of the proxy statement received a favorable vote of at least 88.9% of the votes cast at this meeting.
Item two, the proposal to ratify the selection of KPMG LLP to serve as the independent registered public accounting firm for the company for 2025 received the following votes: 93.3% of the votes cast voted for the proposal, 6.7% of the votes cast voted against the proposal. Item three, the 2025 advisory vote on executive compensation received the following votes: 54.9% of the votes cast voted for the proposal, 45.1% of the votes cast voted against the proposal. Item four, the shareholder proposal requesting a shareholder vote regarding golden parachutes received the following votes: 9.6% of the votes cast voted for the proposal, 90.4% of the votes cast voted against the proposal.
Item five, the shareholder proposal requesting the board conduct an evaluation and issue a report evaluating the risks related to religious discrimination received the following votes: 2% of the votes cast voted for the proposal, 98% of the votes cast voted against the proposal. The results of this preliminary report indicate that the shareholders of the company have elected all nominees of the board of directors as named in the proxy statement, have approved the proposal regarding ratification of the selection of our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2025 fiscal year, have approved on an advisory basis the compensation of our named executive officers, and have not approved the two-shareholder proposal. This concludes the inspector's report.
Thank you. Thank you, Maggie. We now move to the next order of business, which is questions and answers. Having completed the voting items and reported on the voting, we will welcome questions from our shareholders. We value the support and engagement of all our shareholders and strive to be responsive to their questions and perspectives. For any shareholders who want to ask a question via telephone, as a reminder, please access the virtual meeting platform, enter your control number, click on the Q&A tab, and you will see the phone number to call. We have approximately 15 minutes aside for general questions and comments. We will follow the rules of conduct and meeting procedures for the handling of your questions. We will make every effort to use this portion of the meeting to be responsive to shareholders with questions and comments.
We ask you, please focus your question on an issue of general importance to shareholders and limit your comments to no more than two minutes. In the interest of fairness to all shareholders, if a question has already been substantially answered, we will move on to another shareholder's question. Maggie, before you open the phone line, did you receive any questions in advance of today's meeting?
Yes, Albert, we did receive questions in advance of today's meeting. Many of them were focused on stock price performance. The following question is representative of those we received. Pfizer had a successful year in 2024, yet the stock price is down significantly. What do you believe is behind this disconnect, behind what you describe as Pfizer's strong operational performance and the weak stock price? What steps is the company taking to address this issue for your shareholders?
As I have said, first of all, thank you for sharing the question. I understand, first of all, the frustration that our shareholders feel. They are not alone in that. Our leadership team shares this frustration. Our board members share this frustration. My more than 80,000 Pfizer colleagues share it. Of course, me as the Chairman and CEO of the company, I feel it deeply, and I feel the owner of this situation. As I have said earlier, I do not believe the stock price reflects the progress we are making right now. That is the frustration at this moment. However, I am confident we are taking the right actions. As a result, I am confident that the share price will follow. The way forward for us is to continue showing discipline in execution of our clear and focused strategy.
Our strategic priorities guide us in addressing our greatest opportunities to make a difference for patients, move our company forward, and of course, as a result, enhance shareholder value. It is up to us to execute. I believe that when we are focused and working together, nobody executes better than Pfizer. We showed that, and we showed what we can do in 2021 and in 2020 with our intervention in the COVID crisis. We showed what we can do in 2024, where we showed financial discipline, our commercial teams executed with excellence, and we took important steps to strengthen our R&D organization. When I look to the year ahead, I'm confident that we will continue to execute, making our company more efficient and maximizing the value of our product portfolio. We are also making it a top priority to improve productivity and outcomes in R&D.
Pfizer has repeatedly shown the world what we can do. I am confident that we will do it again, and I believe that we are well positioned to create value for our shareholders. Thank you for sharing the question. Let's operate now. We are ready to take live questions. Please open the phone line and announce the name of the shareholder.
To make a comment or ask a question, you should have entered the virtual meeting platform using your control number. If you entered the platform using a control number, you will be able to access the dial-in information by clicking the Q&A tab. Please press star one to ask a question. Please mute your computer or playback device before being called on to minimize background noise. We will now pause to compile the list. Our first question comes from Derek Hughes. Caller, your line is now open.
Thank you for your time. Given the depressed stock price, why isn't Pfizer being more aggressive with share buybacks to support the stock and return capital to shareholders? Thank you.
Thank you, first of all, very much for your question. Allow me to start by trying to make something as clear as I can. Clear as clear water, like crystal water. We are committed to enhancing value for our shareholders. It is our obligation as board members. It is our obligation as management team. Now, we believe that our capital allocation strategy at this time supports this objective. It provides a balanced approach that also supports our efforts to strengthen Pfizer for the future. The key pillars of our capital allocation strategy are the dividend, reinvesting in our business at an appropriate level of financial return, predominantly research, but in other areas as well, and making value-enhancing share repurchases when it is appropriate. I'm proud of the progress we made in 2024. We returned $9.5 billion to shareholders via our quarterly dividend.
We invested nearly $11 billion in internal R&D, and we paid down debt by approximately $7.8 billion, all in 2024. Our current top priorities are reinvesting in our business to enhance future growth, supporting and potentially growing the dividend, and paying down debt. Share buybacks are also an important tool that we will consider leveraging when appropriate. As we prioritize investments in R&D, business development, and other growth initiatives, we believe we are supporting the long-term value creation. Our R&D pipeline is the lifeblood of the company, and we are committed to supporting the advancement of our most promising programs. Our dividend and value-enhancing share repurchases are also meaningful ways we work to deliver value to our shareholders. Of course, we believe our capital allocation strategy strikes right now the right balance, helping to strengthen our company for the future while also working to enhance long-term shareholder value.
Thank you for your question. Operator, please move to the next question.
Our next question comes from Tom McHaney. Caller, your line is now open.
Thank you. In light of recent shifts in U.S. policy and the current dismantling of the global health infrastructure, how will you continue to support public and global health initiatives? Also, are you reassessing existing partnerships and exploring new partnership commitments? Given the grave loss of funding to USAID, UNICEF, Stop TB, and others, how will you ensure access to lifesaving drugs and vaccines in low-income countries? Also, how are you working to influence the administration to go back to supporting global health programs? Are you engaging with your trade associations to do that? Thank you.
Thank you for this question. It addresses something that is at the heart of who we are as a company. Pfizer is fully committed to making our medicines and vaccines available to as many people as possible across the United States and in every part of the world, especially for those who are the most vulnerable. We continue to work with governments and our partners to find ways to address the greatest healthcare needs and increase access to innovative healthcare in underserved regions. We work with governments in the United States and outside the United States. This includes programs like Accord for a Healthier World, where we are focused on boosting affordable access and helping to close the health equity gap in 45 lower-income countries. Through the Accord, we supply our full portfolio of medicines and vaccines, both current and future products, on a non-for-profit basis.
Because we understand that lasting impact can only come when system-level access barriers are also addressed, it's not only the cost. It is also the system. We work with governments and others to support health system capacity and capability building, where it's needed and where we can make a difference. To help fight the opioid and fentanyl crisis in the U.S., Pfizer has donated more than 3 million doses of overdose reversal medication to Direct Relief since 2017. I repeat, 3 million doses. Direct Relief has distributed this medication to 725 organizations in 51 states and territories in the United States. As I said, this work is critical to who we are, and we will remain dedicated to it. Thank you for your question. Maggie, did you receive any other questions in advance of today's meeting?
Yes, Albert, we did. We have time for this final question. We also received a number of questions from shareholders asking about our strategy for strengthening Pfizer for the future. The following question is representative of those we received. Looking ahead, what are you most excited about in Pfizer's pipeline? What are some of the key upcoming milestones we should be watching for?
Thank you for sharing this question. Our purpose, as we all know, is breakthroughs that change patients' lives. There are many breakthroughs to look forward to. The R&D pipeline of potential new medicines and vaccines that are now developing is at the very heart of our ability to drive positive impact and change people's lives. As a result, shareholder value. I'm proud of what we achieved in 2024 with a strong year of R&D pipeline performance. In addition to 14 major market approvals, we had last year seven pivotal study starts and eight key phase three readouts. I'm even more excited about our future. We have many compelling opportunities to bring potential groundbreaking new treatments for cancer, new vaccines and therapies that could help millions of people around the world. Let me offer a few highlights.
Let me start with the work we are doing towards our aspiration of a world-class leadership in oncology. We have created one of the most talented and capable oncology teams in our industry. We are prioritizing our R&D efforts around cancer types where we have specific capabilities and deep expertise. That includes breast cancer, genitourinary cancer, hematology, and thoracic cancer. Thoracic, of course, includes lung cancer. I will mention two of our ADCs, the antibody drug candidates, for thoracic cancer that I think offer great promise for patients. Our investigational Sigvotatug vedotin and our investigational PD-L1 V vedotin candidates are showing potential that we believe could transform the standard of care in lung cancer. Additionally, we are also encouraged by our vaccine pipeline. We are advancing the fourth- and fifth-Generation pneumococcal conjugate vaccine programs.
We are advancing a program for Clostridium difficile, so that I can name another one outside the pneumococcal conjugate that, if successful, will be the first and only vaccine to address this significant unmet medical need. We are also very pleased with the progress of many key development programs. We recently started a pivotal study, for example, with Nurtec, to potentially address menstrual-related migraine. This represents an area of significant unmet patient need. You know this is just a few items. This is, of course, a beginning of the new journey of Pfizer under the leadership of Chris Boshoff, guided by him, a new leadership team, and Pfizer expert researchers and scientists. I believe there is much more to come. Thank you for the question. Thank you for comments.
If your question was not answered at today's meeting, you may submit your question on the virtual meeting platform, which will remain open until 11:00 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time today. We will post the answers to unanswered pertinent questions on our website. We now move to the last order of business, adjournment. We are about to adjourn. Before we do, I would like to thank everyone who worked on this meeting, both Pfizer colleagues, some of them sitting there, and our business partners. This has been a valuable meeting for us. We appreciate, as always, the opportunity to listen and, of course, learn from our shareholders. Speaking for all of us in the executive leadership team and for all of us on the board, I'm grateful for your continued confidence in Pfizer and for your continuing interest in the progress of our company. Please stay safe and healthy.
With that, the meeting is adjourned.
This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.